Following the commemoration of the Egyptian Space Day organised in partnership with the Arab Science and Technology Foundation, the country’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, has announced that the country, in collaboration with China, is on track to build the Satellite City Industrialisation and Assembly Center later this year.

Furthermore, he noted the importance of partnerships between countries for sustainable development, stating that Egypt is currently expanding its frontiers with regards to relations and interactions with several countries in space-related fields, including the French Space Agency. He took into cognisance cooperations in the area of space sciences with countries such as China, Italy, Kazakhstan, and the US while referring to deals signed during the TICAD Seven summit in Japan, and stressed that space-related fields do not only consist or rely solely on manufacturing and launching of satellites, but includes scientific research in space medicine and other fields.

Also speaking at the event held on 16 February, the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency(EgSA), Mohamed al-Qousy, revealed plans to partner with Egyptian universities and support their efforts in setting up space science laboratories. He also outlined the details of the agency’s proposed training programs.

According to him, EgSA hopes to set a schedule over the next ten years enable the country to achieve her goals in the field of space, which he acknowledged, go beyond launching satellites. He stated that the schedule encapsulates the exploration of outer space by sending an astronaut to space, as well as research activities on space medicine and waste.

Meanwhile, attendance and participation at the Space Day event included ministers, ambassadors from participating countries, the academia, students and senior officers of relevant agencies.

The event also highlighted the launching of a platform which will help promote exchanges and interactions between Egyptian researchers and scientists and their foreign counterparts.